Flexibility training methods

Prioritize the source of tension in the target part, and use the three basic methods of static stretching, dynamic stretching, and PNF stretching accordingly. The training frequency is controlled at 3-5 times a week, with a single movement of 20-60 seconds each time. There is no need for extreme operations such as leg pressing for an hour a day.

Oh, don’t believe it. Two years ago, I saw a little girl press her legs for 40 minutes every morning and evening in order to practice the horse. After doing it for almost three months, the horse fell down. It wasn’t long before it was discovered that the medial collateral ligament of the knee joint was damaged. It hurt even going up and down stairs. To put it bluntly, many people's misunderstandings about flexibility training are stuck in "the more painful it is, the more effective it is" and "the longer the stretch, the better." They have no idea what is tight and why.

It’s interesting to say that in the past two years, the fitness circle was still collectively denigrating static stretching, saying that doing it before exercise will reduce muscle strength and affect exercise performance. There are even papers saying that it will reduce absolute strength by 30%, which scares many people and they don’t even dare to stretch their arms before exercise. But teachers in the yoga circle don't accept this approach at all. Many traditional Ashtanga practitioners do static stretching for half an hour before starting practice in the morning, and no one has seen any loss of strength. In fact, both sides are right. It all depends on your training goals: If you plan to hit a deadlift PR or run interval speed today, then do not do static stretching before training. Instead, use dynamic stretching such as hip circling and side walking to open up the joints. ； If you just sit for a long day and your shoulders and neck are stiff and you want to relax, or you want to relax your muscles after training, static stretching for 30 seconds is very comfortable.

What particularly impressed me was the elder brother I took care of last year who was a horse racer. His hamstrings were so tight that he couldn’t straighten his legs when sitting on a chair. He had to press them for two months and it still hurt after running for more than 10 kilometers. Even the ischial tubercle was inflamed. Later, I tested him and found that his tightness was not a short muscle at all, but the protective tension of the nerves - he had stretched his muscles once before by running too much, and his muscles were always in a state of alert "for fear of being pulled apart", so hard pressure was of no use at all. Later, I switched to PNF stretching for him. To put it bluntly, I first asked his hamstring muscles to contract hard against my resistance for 5 seconds, and then stretched them for 30 seconds at the moment of release. After doing it three times in a row, I was able to straighten my legs on the spot. Later, I practiced it two or three times a week, and I didn’t have any pain when I ran a marathon. This method is particularly friendly to people with old muscle injuries and high nerve sensitivity. It is best to have someone assist you during the operation. It is easy to fail to master the strength if you do it yourself.

Oh, by the way, many people have been practicing for a long time but have no effect. It is most likely that they have pulled the wrong part. Take the most common low back pain among office workers. Nine times out of ten, it is not a waist problem, but a tight gluteus maximus and iliopsoas muscle caused by sitting for a long time. If you rub and stretch your waist every day, it will be useless. I used to have a design student who suffered from back pain for almost a year. She went for massage every week. After two days of massage, she felt comfortable and went back. Later, I asked her to do two movements every day when she was fishing at work: one is to sit on a chair, put one foot on the other knee, lean forward slightly, hold for 30 seconds, change sides, and pull the gluteus maximus. ； The other is to stand next to the workstation, step one foot back on the chair, bend the front leg at the knee, and sink the hip down. Also change sides for 30 seconds to pull the iliopsoas muscle. She did these two movements two or three times a day, and within two weeks she said her waist no longer hurt.

Don’t think that the more flexible you are, the more powerful you are. I once met a girl who was born with lax ligaments. Her elbows could be bent 15 degrees and she could touch the ground while sitting. She also went to a soft opening class to pull a horse every day. Later, the knee joint became unstable after practicing, and she wobbled after even two steps, and she also had fluid accumulation. People who are born with loose ligaments do not need to do too much additional flexibility training at all. Instead, they need to practice more muscle strength around the joints, otherwise they will be easily injured. Friends who are born with tight muscles don’t need to worry. I have a powerlifting student who can barely touch his toes after practicing for almost half a year. However, when he squats, his hip joint range of motion is completely sufficient, and there is no need to pursue fancy things like a split horse - flexibility is enough for you, there is no need to compare with others.

Finally, let me mention the easiest pitfall: when stretching, if you feel obvious tingling, numbness, or your muscles can't help but tremble, tighten them quickly and don't hold on. What you want is a feeling of stretch, not pain. When the pain is so severe that you tremble, the muscles have already activated protective reflexes. Not only will the muscles become tighter and tighter, they can easily be injured. If you practice for two or three weeks and make no progress at all, don't first suspect that your talent is poor. Either the movements are wrong and the target muscles are not stretched, or the frequency is too low. Training once a week will definitely have no effect. Adjusting and trying again is much more useful than blindly arguing.